1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and method for the treatment of tissue, such as hard and soft tissue, wounds, tumors, muscles, and cartilage, with ultrasound energy by direct contact.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a variety of known methods for the treatment of tissue. These methods include wound dressings, hyperbaric oxygen treatment, growth factor therapy, antibiotics, surgery, physical therapy, vacuum therapy, electrical simulation, bioengineered tissue, ultraviolet light therapy, and tissue ultrasound. There are also a variety of known methods for the treatment of wounds with ultrasound energy.
U.S. patents that disclose devices and methods for wound treatment using an ultrasound spray include: U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,754 to Babaev; U.S. Pat. No. 6,761,729 to Babaev; U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,803 to Babaev; U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,099 to Babaev; U.S. Pat. No. 6,663,554 to Babaev; and finally U.S. Pat. No. 6,960,173 to Babaev. These devices and methods can only achieve limited results because there is no sufficient delivery of ultrasound energy to the target because there is no direct contract with the target area. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,025,735 to Soring and 6,916,296 also to Soring disclose a method and device for the treatment of septic wounds that uses both a liquid aerosol and direct contact.
U.S. Patent Application 2004/0030254 to Babaev discloses a device and method for ultrasound wound debridement. Babaev discloses a device that causes debridement through mechanical vibration in the ultrasound tip. This device is also limited in that it uses only mechanical vibration for debridement.
Therefore, there is a need for a device and method that can use both mechanical vibration and ultrasound cavitation for fragmentation. There is also a need for a device and method that can simultaneously treat tissue and remove unwanted tissue through fragmentation.